


Flying Faster

by lostintheclouds321



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Because I’m a Simple Writer, Father-Son Relationship, Fix-It, Iron Dad, Iron dad and Spider son, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Richard Parker is not Peter’s Dad, Simple Fic, Soul Stone (Marvel), Spider-son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-07 01:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16398578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostintheclouds321/pseuds/lostintheclouds321
Summary: The Soul Stone will take you to exactly who you need to meet.





	Flying Faster

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a prequel to Not Who You Think, but you don’t need to have read that to understand this. Also, Janet Van Dyne was only gone for 17 years in this fic. Which is a HUGE part. And she knew Mary Parker.

It had all been a flash of faces at first and Peter quickly recognized that he was flying through the Soul Stone- judging by the burnt orange color of his drab surroundings. He zoomed past countless people but didn’t recognize a single one. All he could recognize was -despite the fact that they’d all just, essentially, died- that no one was crying. Their faces were serene and at peace as they easily talked to whoever they had found. Peter wished he had someone to talk to, someone who could rationalize his feelings, someone who could explain why he was crying when no one else was.

But he was flying -or was it falling- and he couldn’t stop himself. Looking down at the people, Peter wondered if he could reach down and grab onto them. He would do anything to pull himself down so he could stop the tears that streaked down his cheeks. He wanted to reassure Aunt May with a hug one last time. He wanted to make sure Ned was doing okay. He wanted to go back to Mr. Stark in whom he had found someone he could talk to.

When his parents died, Peter stopped feeling like he needed or deserved to be protected. He could take care of himself after all. So he stayed silent when Flash started bullying him; he didn’t tell Aunt May and Uncle Ben when his lunch started getting stolen; he didn’t mention that one time he’d gotten beat up -only for the mugger to leave when he found Peter had nothing of value but a TI-84 Calculator; then he didn’t admit to his Aunt when he started going out on the streets to fight crime in a shoddily put together assemblage of red and blue fabric.

However, when Mr. Stark burst into his life with a plane ticket to _Germany_ , gave him an improved suit, and told him to stay on the sidelines, Peter finally felt like he was being watched over. He began to trust Mr. Stark.

The older man continually looked out for him by personally teaching him how to use the suit and checking up on him every time Spider-Man ended up in the news. Peter would never forget the time when -mid battle with the self proclaimed ‘Sand Man-’ Tony showed up and took Peter to the side. Peter had been fighting a losing battle so Tony came up with some strategies for the vigilante to use, while still giving Peter the chance to take the villain down himself.

When Peter offhandedly admitted that the internship ruse wasn’t holding with Aunt May, Tony had given him a real internship (then, of course, Aunt May found out about Spider-Man, but Tony didn’t rescind the internship). He sent cars to pick up Peter just because he didn’t want Peter getting caught up in a mugging (the teen pointed out that that was his job, but Mr. Stark ignored him).

While it took some time to see, Peter eventually noticed that Tony Stark was protecting him. Really, it was Ned that pointed it out, but Peter had had to come to the realization himself. But what good was it supposed to do him _here_? He couldn’t even talk to anyone about it. 

The Stone sent him flying for a good five minutes- or maybe there was no time in the Stone and it was simply passing as he needed it to- before quickly dropping him at a ninety degree angle- faster than normal physics would have naturally allowed. He found himself right in front of an old woman who was, in contrast to her age, in incredible shape. Her back was straight and tall and she had the appearance of someone who’d spent her days at the gym. It was weird seeing all of this on someone with gray hair and crinkled eyes. She wore a tan jacket and a white blouse.

Though she was alone, she seemed at peace with herself. Almost as if she’d learned to live with the silence. Peter wondered if he would ever be as okay with being alone as she was. He didn’t think so.

Seeing as there was nothing else to do after he landed, Peter kindly introduced himself with a handshake, “Hello, I’m Peter Parker. Nice to meet you.”

Her grip was much firmer and for a second Peter forgot that it was _him_ who had the super strength and not her. How had she gotten so strong? And badass?

“I am Janet Van Dyne and it is-“ she paused as if having a realization, “Wait, Parker? As in Mary Fitzpatrick’s beau Richard Parker? Because you look just like her,” she asserted.

Peter was shocked at the mention of his mother’s name, had the Stone maybe brought him here for a reason? Instead of asking any question, and there were just so many, he nodded, “Did you know my mom and my dad?”

“Well, of course I knew your mom. She’s like a little sister to me. We met through SHIELD of course and-“ she halted her speech after taking note of Peter’s dumbfounded face, “Did your mom not tell you?” She asked as if it was some sort of crazy concept.

“My mom has been dead for more than a decade,” Peter tried to explain, but was confused as to why she didn’t know. Surely if they were _that_ close, they would’ve kept in touch.

Janet stumbled backwards a bit, for the first time seeming unsure of her place here, “Oh, more has changed than I knew.” He could tell it was affecting her even if she was trying to hide it from him. He didn’t say anything.

Alas, Peter couldn’t help his curiosity, “What do you mean by that?”

“Last I saw your mom, she was pregnant with you. But a mission went bad and I was taken to the quantum realm, God, she’s really dead? How?” Janet demanded.

“Oh, she and my dad went down in a plane crash,” Peter supplied, “I’ve been living with my aunt and uncle from my dad’s side.”

The older woman paused, taking in all of the information, “Your real dad?”

Now, _Peter_ needed some time to process, “What do you mean by my ‘real’ dad?”

“Well, last I had heard, your mom didn’t know who your father was. She’d taken a break from Richard and ended up pregnant after a science convention. Richard was accepting of it, being the sweet man that he is- was, but there was a lot of drama going on around your birth,” she said rather matter of factly and it was Peter’s turn to stumble a little on his feet. This was certainly news to him, “Oh, sweetie, did they never tell you?”

Peter nodded and tried to pull himself together, it shouldn’t matter, he was dead. But it still struck him now that he’d _never_ really had a dad. At least not one according to society‘ standards. And if he’d never had a dad, maybe he simply didn’t deserve one. All his life, he looked up to Richard Parker, but it was for naught. Peter had tried to do things that would’ve made him proud; like going to his father’s alma matter high school, Midtown. But now he was learning that it hadn’t been worth it. He’d been honoring a man he didn’t even know, a myth he’d been told to live up to. His aunt and uncle weren’t even related to him. Peter’s whole world was crumbling beneath him.

Then Janet was wrapping her arms around him. He hadn’t felt temperature the whole time in the Stone, but now he felt a warm feeling spreading in his core. He hugged her back and let his worry wash away. It was like some benevolent presence was washing over him. He didn’t question it.

When they pulled away, he looked into her eyes and smiled, “Thanks,” she patted him on the back in a comforting manner, and he suddenly had to ask her, “How did you get stuck in the quantum realm?”

“It’s a long story, but I suppose we have the time. A long time ago, I was a superhero myself,” she introduced, gesturing to Peter’s own super-suit, “They called me the _Wasp_.”

They sat and talked about Janet’s past work as a hero with SHIELD, how her soon to be son-in-law was stuck in the quantum realm, and Peter’s life. Soon enough, her family showed up with their own new friends. Meeting them was enlightening because apparently Hope had liked to think of his mom as ‘Aunt Mary.’ She admitted her regret of not having reached out. Peter loved meeting Hank Pym and seeing all his genius. The older man was such a huge revolutionizer of so many scientific inventions. He allowed physicists to study laws on the smallest scale, biologists to work on animals and study their cells further, and chemists to work specifically with molecules.

So, all in all, death wasn’t too bad. But then it happened again. He started to disappear. It didn’t hurt as much this time; rather, it was more of a light tingling feeling, but the scary part was that it was only happening to him. Everyone else stayed solid and clear. They all tried to grab on to him and halt the process, but there was nothing they could do. The harder they held on, the quicker he faded. While it was happening, Peter could only think that whoever was controlling this didn’t think he deserved to be happy in the afterlife. Maybe now, he really was disappearing for good.

One second he was there, the next, he wasn’t.

And then Peter was back where he started, in Tony’s arms. While Peter was still covered in scratches from the fight, Mr. Stark was all cleaned up. He was no longer soaking in his own blood but his hair was grayer than it had been before. Tony was crying, but Peter couldn’t stop smiling. He wasn’t gone forever. No one was; otherwise, how did Peter get back here?

“Mr-Mr. Stark?”

Mr. Stark didn’t say anything, but Peter could feel his tears soaking into his hair. _How_ _long_ _has_ _it_ _been_? “How am I here?” Peter asked instead.

The older man held on to him tighter, “I’m not really sure myself, the Soul Stone, it-“ Mr. Stark choked up, “It spoke to me and told me I had a chance to get my family back, whatever that was supposed to mean, because they could help me defeat Thanos. So I did what they told me, and- Peter, I’m so glad you’re here,” Tony said in a rush of words and Peter thought he was the rambler. It was strange coming out of Tony Stark.

“I am too- how long has it been, Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, curiously, the question finally becoming a priority.

Mr. Stark tightened his grasp around Peter, “Six months with no progress against Thanos, I would say its an uphill fight, but it doesn’t seem like a fight anymore. We’ve tried reaching out to the aliens, but they don’t seem to think we can help. I mean, with half of our team gone- Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, even Ant Man- there’s not much we can do,” Tony said softly into Peter’s hair.

The teen nodded, a lot on his mind only seconds after coming back, “So everyone really _is_  gone,” he muttered into Tony’s suit. Disbelief screamed at him, but they’d been dealing with this loss for six months and hadn’t found anything. What would Peter be able to offer to the table? For him, it’d barely been a day since he died. But wait, the Stone told Tony that Peter could help, what had he learned down there that no one else could have known? “I don’t think Ant Man is really gone.”

“What do you mean, kiddo?” Tony asked, shocked that Peter had a differing opinion.

Peter tried to think of the best way to explain this, “In the Soul Stone, I met with Janet Van Dyne, and she said that when they all disappeared, he was still in the quantum realm. I think he might be the key to all this. Maybe he learned something down there,” Peter said hopefully.

“It’s been six months, how do we know he’s even still alive?”

“Aunt Janet was down there for seventeen years! We have to try,” the teen insisted.

Tony started to loosen his grip, allowing Peter to separate from him, but they instead shifted into a position where Tony’s arm was wrapped around Peter’s shoulders, “So she’s _Aunt_ Janet now, huh? What about me, underoos? Am I going to be Mr. Stark forever?”

Mr. Stark ruffled his hand through Peter’s hair,and that got Peter thinking again, “Did you ever meet my mom? Mary Fitzpatrick?”

“Yeah, she was a real fireball, but that’s a story for another time. I can’t even remember half of it,” Tony joked and Peter decided he needed to do a bit more digging. But that would have to wait until after the war.

 

It turned out that Thanos didn’t know anyone even had access to the quantum realm or the ability to shrink/grow things. So it sure was a surprise to him when his gauntlet became too big for his hand out of nowhere. The team had given him little to no time to prepare or even suspect that they were coming. Eight months into hiding, Thanos had gotten lazy.

From there, it had been easy to return the universe to normal. The first thing Peter did was return to that rooftop where they’d found Scott Lang to give Janet a hug as she had done for him all those months ago. She, thankfully returned it, but pulled away when she saw Tony land behind him.

She boldly walked up to him, “So, you must be Peter’s father! Oh, he looks _just_ like you,” She exclaimed and Peter turned around in full panic. He locked eyes with Mr. Stark who seemed to be just as panicked.

“No, ma’m, that would be Richard Parker,” he answered cordially.

Janet quickly turned around with a stern look in her eyes, and Peter- in the respective day he’d known her- had never seen this side of the older woman, “You didn’t tell him?”

Peter quickly put up his hands, “There wasn’t exactly time while we were busy _saving_ everyone; plus, it wouldn’t make sense to tell Mr. Stark.”

“You’re scared,” Janet said lowering her voice but being pretty spot on. Peter began to sputter, “Don’t try to lie to me.” Peter turned his head to the side and didn’t say anything, Janet instead looked at Tony, “Richard Parker is not Peter’s father, Mary was never sure who the father was. Is there any chance,” she paused for emphasis, “that it was you?”

Mr. Stark looked frozen where he stood, “No- I mean, yes? We should-“ he coughed, “We should talk about this somewhere that _isn’t_ a rooftop,” looking around, the trio saw that the others had already departed the roof.

Janet nodded serenely, before leading the way, “We can do it in my lab.”

The walk down was awkward, Peter, usually chatty and hyper, stayed close to Janet and didn’t look anywhere but down. Tony, usually confident and fast, moved slower than usual and seemed to sink into himself; no doubt, he was thinking about all that he might have missed.

The test itself was fast, a prick here and there and then a match. The whole thing itself was very emotional. After seeing the results, Tony pulled Peter in for a long hug while Janet was left to stand there and coo. Peter felt tears in his eyes because he never wanted anything other than this.

“I think this might be the best ending to a war that I’ve ever gone through, Pete,” Tony said into Peter’s hair, mimicking how they had been when Peter had first come back.

“Me too, Mr. Stark,” Peter said back into the older man’s expensive suit.

Tony just laughed, “I think _now_ , you _have_  to stop calling me Mr. Stark. I think ‘Dad’ has a nice tone to it, what about you?”

Peter didn’t say anything, just hugged the older man tighter. Tony didn’t mention Peter’s super strength, and Peter didn’t bring up the weird position of his shoulder. Nothing could’ve ruined this moment.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn’t really sure where to go with this, but I think it took it's own path and I’m pretty satisfied with it. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave a comment and check out my other fic: Help! I Need Spider-Man and leave a comment!


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